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Andrew Bonito
Andrew Bonito was a contestant on Season 1 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 6th place. Personality Andrew started out with a very big ego, and a big mouth, which turned against him as he was a consistently poor performer. This led him to be constantly pushed around by his teammates, furthering his attitude problems, and becoming the most nominated person on the blue team. He improved his attitude by learning to not talk back, but couldn't improve his cooking or admit his mistakes, which led to his elimination. He had running feuds with his teammates despite an early friendship with Jessica that turned into a running feud after Mary Ellen was shockingly eliminated over him, with whom he also had a running feud with over his attitude, and clashes with Ralph over the latter's perceived controlling nature, although the two later reconciled during the final service. Season 1 Episode 1 The twelve contestants arrived in Hell's Kitchen and celebrated with a champagne glass and getting to know each other. Andrew, who had 10 years of restaurant experience, revealed two of his dreams, a state senator, and owning his own restaurant. After some time, Maître D’ Jean-Philippe and Sous Chefs Scott and Mary-Ann greeted them, revealing that their first test began now. During the Signature Dish Challenge, Andrew was the first contestant to have his dish judged by Ramsay. He served what he called "Andrew's Absolute Penne", but Ramsay called it "Absolute Dogshit" after spitting it out. Then, he was asked by Ramsay to taste his dish, and when he acknowledged that there was too much salt in it, Ramsay called him a smartass and told him his 10 years of experience were a waste. After the challenge, he was placed on the blue team, along with Mary Ellen, Wendy, Ralph, Michael, and Jessica. During dinner service, Andrew was on the dessert station. After asking Ramsay if the dessert he made was acceptable, the latter went to his face by telling him that he was not going to move from the hot plate and come down to him, and that if he had a question, he had to come down to the hot plate himself. Then, Andrew felt that Ramsay did not like him, but challenged the latter to pick on him as he did not give a shit. After one of his team's tables went to the kitchen to speak with Ramsay, and many tables left, Ramsay shut down both kitchens. While cleaning up, felt that he busted his ass that night no matter what Ramsay said. When looking over the comment cards, it was revealed he sent four desserts out, but nobody liked them. The blue team won the dinner service, but Ramsay told that they did not win, and that they were just safe. Episode 2 The next day, At 5:55 AM, Sous Chefs Scott and Mary-Ann went in the dorms with cookware and banged them together to wake up everybody, with Dewberry originally thinking it was somebody with a gun. During the Squid Cleaning Challenge, Andrew felt confident in his chances to at least tie the score up with his one squid. However, Ramsay rejected it for having a huge hole in the bottom, but he questioned Ramsay’s judgement as he felt the squid was perfect, and called it crap. The blue team lost the challenge 5-6, and they were punished by cleaning all the squids for the next dinner service, and working without air conditioning. Back at the dorms, while he felt like he let his team down, Wendy reminded him that she did not score either. During the punishment, Sous Chef Scott dumped more squid onto the counter after he asked if there was more. The next day, Andrew, Mary Ellen and Jessica met in the kitchen to discuss Jeff’s condition, with him talking about his moans of pain. Jeff revealed that he had a previous history with kidney stones, and called it the worst timing, but he wished him well. During dinner service, he was on the meat station with Mary Ellen. When she brought undercooked Wellingtons to the pass, he started arguing with her and telling her what to do, but she was more annoyed by his attitude, asking him to stop and yell at her later. Hours later into service, when Mary Ellen finally redeemed herself with some acceptable Wellingtons, he was trying to make himself look good in front of Sous Chef Scott by claiming he was trying to control the temperature of the oven. However, Sous Chef Scott did not buy that, and Mary Ellen got annoyed by that, sarcastically telling him to keep talking down to her. After Jean-Philippe was physically assaulted, Ramsay shut down both kitchens, and declared the blue team winners after serving some main courses. Episode 3 Before the 5 Course Meal Challenge, Andrew and his team said goodbye to Michael as the latter was transferred to the red team. When the blue team was discussing the menu on the bus, he suggested a light creamy soup for their hot starter, but Ralph wanted it to be a heartier soup instead, annoying him as his idea was shot down. He was the fourth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, cooked the meat entrée, and went up against Michael. He served a grilled rib-eye with oxtail-mushroom sauce and white peaches as a meat entrée. After Ramsay questioned the choice of mixing white peaches with a rib-eye and tasted it, he said that it did not work and found it disgusting. He scored no point for his team, and he revealed that this idea was Ralph's, which was confirmed in a flashback. He lost that round to Michael, and the blue team lost the challenge after a tiebreaker at 3, with Ramsay especially criticizing his dish. The blue team were punished by cleaning the dorms, with Ramsay specifically telling Andrew not to forget the toilets. During the punishment, he said he wanted to go to the bar instead of cleaning, and later, he took his frustrations out by angrily beating the rug on the patio railing, complaining how they kept losing challenges. During dinner service, Andrew was on the appetizer station with Wendy. When his crab risotto made it to the critics table, it received poor reviews with Kate Krader deeming it a mess. When his crab risotto made it to customers, one of them became ill and started to throw up. When it came back to the kitchen, he acknowledged that it was too salty, even before Ramsay asked him to taste it. Then, he started to talk back to Ramsay, even thinking that it was not his fault if the customer became ill, who left in anger, leading Ramsay to school him on his behavior. After very few main courses left either kitchen, Ramsay closed them both. The blue team was declared losers because of the critic’s comment cards, and Ralph was named "Best of the Worst". During deliberation, he and Mary Ellen were seen trying to comfort Jessica. Andrew was Ralph's second nominee for elimination, with Wendy being the first. During his plea, he mentioned his and Ramsay's disagreements, but the latter reminded him about the salty risotto and ordered him to start over. After, he said he was a team player, and was trying his best. He survived elimination, although Ramsay warned him to be glad he was safe. While being dismissed, he said he did not want to cut lettuce and celery just to get the boot as he wanted his own restaurant. Episode 4 Back at the dorms, most of the chefs went to bed, but Ralph and Andrew spent time alone at the patio, with the former asking if he was trying to achieve the role of a smartass. He admitted he was a smartass, but while he argued he stood up for himself, Ralph told him that he had to shut his mouth when entering the kitchen under Ramsay, unless he wanted to be under the guillotine again. During the Perfect Table Challenge, Mary Ellen got annoyed by Andrew continuing to readjust the table. The blue team won the challenge as they managed to make only one mistake, compared to the red team's four. They were rewarded with a day of relaxation and spa treatment in the dorms. Later that night, the chefs gathered at the patio for some down time as Mary Ellen and Jessica called Jean-Philippe a character, while Andrew asked if the latter had gas sometimes. Then, Elsie discovered a huge billboard outside the dorms showing Ramsay's face and the title of the show. She made everybody else look at it, all laughing when they saw it saying they could not believe it, and he thought he heard Ramsay call him a wanker from above. The next day during prep, Jessica hoped that he would shut his mouth for once so they could get through service, and before the doors opened, Ralph helped Andrew remember the garnishes by writing them on pieces of white tape, which he appreciated. During dinner service, Andrew was on the garnish station. At the start of service, Ramsay told him to run the garnish pairings through his head, and the latter acknowledged that he had to shut his mouth if he wanted to succeed. However, he could not remember what garnish was going with what dish, and brought up the wrong garnishes to the pass, which led Ramsay to lose his patience and forced a do over. Later, he failed to bring the right garnish again as he forgot the endives, and when Ramsay asked where they were by, he did not answer, so Ramsay explained Jean-Philippe why the table was not ready yet, and the blue team had to start it again because of him. The blue team lost the service as they were unable to complete service compared to the red team, and while he blamed Mary Ellen for being a disaster, the latter felt he had big problems no matter the night. Jessica was named "Best of the Worst". During deliberation, he was worried as he had already been nominated before and there was little possibility of surviving another elimination. Andrew was Jessica's first nominee for elimination, with Mary Ellen being the second. During his plea, he felt that he was a learning machine due to keeping his mouth shut, but Ramsay believed that him being nominated twice in a row indicated that his teammates did not like him. He survived elimination, and Ramsay called him a lucky boy because of that. While being dismissed, he believed that the most important lesson in Hell’s Kitchen was to shut the fuck up in front of the devil. Episode 5 Back at the dorms, Andrew got back in his room for some alone time, reflecting how he was misunderstood in a hostile environment. Then, he kept telling himself how he was doing something right if he was still around, before the camera revealed a sign on his bed that read “Shut Your Mouth”. The next day, he was named the weakest link on the blue team by Ralph, which infuriated him, thinking it was crap. Before the Pasta Making Challenge, Andrew felt that the blue team would rock it because there were two Italian chefs. During the challenge, he was holding the pasta on his arms, though he wished he could have helped his team out more as his mouth was free. The blue team lost the challenge, managing to get only 2.41 lbs. of pasta acceptable, compared to the red team's 2.45. They were punished by making all the remaining pasta for the pasta themed dinner service. He was pissed by their loss, feeling that the blue team’s pasta looked a lot better than the red team’s. During prep, Andrew could not wait as he cooked enough pasta in his lifetime for another. During dinner service, the blue team served during the first seating, and cooked during the second. During the first seating, as a waiter, he gave an inconsistent performance, and was given a negative critic by a very unhappy customer at the end. The customer was shocked to see him still working. Before the second seating, he and Ralph argued over the dishes and himself giving the latter lip, but Jessica told the two to stop. However, Ralph felt he was too thick headed and refused to seek answers to questions he asked. During the second seating, he had trouble communicating by giving out improper timings. Then, Ramsay asked him for the short ribs, but got no answer, and he and Jessica were ordered to come together, before comparing his dish to a dog's dinner. Then, his short ribs were once again compared to a dog’s dinner, and after forcing a redo on the ticket, Ramsay showed him and Jessica that they only had 17 tickets left. The blue team was declared winners because of their good service in the dining room, and their food of better quality than the red team's. Episode 6 During the Blind Taste Test, Andrew was the first person from the blue team to compete, and went up against Jimmy. He could only correctly identify chicken. After Ralph failed to score more points, he was disappointed in the former. The blue team eventually lost the challenge 1-4, and were punished by washing the entire restaurant's dishes, and having a lock on their storage room door. During the punishment, he bitterly wished he would spend time with Ramsay rather than do dishes for the next four hours. The night before the next dinner service, Ramsay announced that both teams would create their own menus. As the blue team worked on their menu, Andrew had a great idea for a braised salmon, but that idea was shut down by Ralph, who said he preferred poached halibut. That annoyed him as it was supposed to be a group effort, but instead, it was a group effort under Ralph. During prep, Ralph was trying to tell Andrew how to poach a halibut as they cannot afford mistakes. When Ramsay looked over the dishes, he told the former about their poached halibut, but Ramsay felt the sauce was a little thin. When the blue team went to get their baby chickens out of the storage room, he had Jessica give him some masking tape so he could seal the latch up, but Sous Chef Scott caught him in the act. That led Sous Chef Scott to give him a piece of his mind, saying he was not stupid like he was acting, and told him to not to cheat of a punishment. Then, Sous Chef Scott told him to get serious like his teammates instead of acting like a jerk, before putting the baby chickens back in the storage room despite Ralph wanting to break them down. During dinner service, Andrew was on the appetizer station and the fish station. When he got back to the pantry room, he ran into a dishwasher, and missed Ramsay’s order. After apologizing, he returned in the kitchen with some broth. He got the kitchen off to a good start with his salad appetizers. On entrées, he served perfectly cooked halibut, but they were on cold plates. Because of that, Ramsay asked him to start over, and berated him for serving hot food on cold plates. So, he had to start over, and Jessica lent him a hand on his halibut dishes. Because of that, he managed to get them out of the kitchen. But moments later, they came back, and Jean-Philippe explained to him and Ralph that the fish were overcooked on all the plates. Later, he told Ramsay he needed six minutes for the halibut to be done, but Ramsay gave him four, which infuriated him as it was not chemically possible to cook the fish that fast. Ramsay shut down both kitchens because too many orders came back. The blue team lost the service due to the halibut returns. Ramsay asked the blue team who was responsible for the halibut dish, but Ralph did not answer, much to Andrew’s annoyance since it was the former’s dish in the first place, and he answered for him. Jessica was named "Best of the Worst". During deliberation, he continued to rant that he did not want the halibut dish on their menu and was angry that Ralph did not own up to it. He still went off on it to Michael and Jimmy at the patio. Andrew was Jessica's nominee for elimination, but was joined by Ralph. During his plea, he refused to accept the blame for Ralph's halibut dish as he could not walk out for the wrong reasons, but the latter retorted that the former should have cared out more about the dish before service instead of during service. Then, he told Ramsay that he felt he was on the Ralph team instead of the blue team as he could not have put a dish on the menu, and had he been able, then Jessica would not have nominated him. However, Ralph argued that he never wanted the team to be all about him, and he felt it was the burden of the work he was under. After their pleas, Ramsay told him that ever since he met him, he was never the person who liked to be steamrolled, but found it interesting that he claimed Ralph manipulate his dish into a halibut dish. Before he could respond, he was eliminated mid-plea for failing to stand up for himself and refusing to admit his mistakes. During his exit interview, he admitted that he was not as successful in the kitchen, but had more integrity that night, he spoke and stood up for himself and said what needed to be said. Ramsay's comment: "So we're down to the final five. These are the best of the best, and the cream is slowly rising to the top. And they all really have to start emerging as individual talent. Andrew's gone tonight because he's out of his depth, and I discovered a fake; he can't cook!" Episode 10/11 Andrew was one of the six chefs that came back for the final dinner service. When he returned, a clip of him arguing with Ramsay during the opening night was shown. Although he and Ralph butted heads in the competition, he was the latter's first pick, and was followed by Wendy and Dewberry. During prep, Andrew admitted to having a little bit of envy towards Ralph, and was not feeling comfortable being around him after everything that happened. While peeling artichokes, he accidentally cut his thumb. He showed his injury to a disgusted Wendy, went to see a medic, and was taken to the hospital. He did not like that as he wanted to be back in time for service, and refused to let Ralph down. Fifteen minutes before service began, he managed to return on time, was hugged by Wendy and gave Ralph a high-five, to the latter's relief. He explained that he received four stitches from the cut, and said there was no way he would miss service. During dinner service, Andrew was on the garnish station. At one point, he went to back store to check on Dewberry, who was sitting down after feeling faint from the heat, and pushed him to go through service. He successfully recovered Dewberry's station while he was away, and successfully helped Ralph to finish the service for him. Ralph eventually lost the finals to Michael. Nomination history Trivia *He is the youngest contestant of the season, at age 24 (now 37/8). *He is the first contestant to have their signature dish tasted by Chef Ramsay. *He is the last contestant of that season to be eliminated before the black jackets were given. *He is the first contestant ever to be nominated three times, and the first to have survived elimination twice in a row. *He is the first contestant to survive an elimination as the first nominee. *Many people think Mary Ellen should have stayed over him. *After his appearance on the show, he returned to college to complete a Masters in Hospitality, and became Director of Operations at Hu Kitchen. He is now Director of Strategic Initiatives for LM Restaurant Group. Quotes *"Could use some salt." *"I have my moments." *"Shut your fucking mouth." *"I survived the fucking guillotine twice!" *"You wanna pick on me?! PICK ON ME! I don't give a shit!" *"It's not chemically possible to cook the halibut in four minutes, bottom line. Science doesn't allow it!" *''(After being eliminated) ''"Maybe, I wasn’t as successful in the kitchen, but I gotta tell you, I think I had the more integrity tonight. I spoke for myself, I stood up for myself, ya know, and I… I said what needed to be said." Category:Chef Category:Season 1 Category:New Jerseyans Category:Final Service Brigade Category:6th Place